Resilience
by Eilyfe
Summary: What does resilience truly mean? Naruto probably doesn't know the word, but he embodies its meaning with every step he takes. [Oneshot, AU]


/ This oneshot is a short experiment to see if I'm able to write in first person. It's nothing overly developed, nor is it meant to be related to any of my other stories. For those who are waiting on an update of my other stories: exams are over in 2-3 weeks. I'll write more after I'm done with them.

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**Resilience**

_by Eilyfe_

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A kunai was thrown at me and I leaned to the side. It whizzed past my face, taking some of my hair with it. I didn't care. I had other problems at the moment. Red eyes blazed up in anger, black wheels were spinning angrily, and then he stood in front of me. Hadn't there been several feet of distance between us just a moment ago?

He lashed out at me and this time I couldn't dodge in time. His fist crashed into my face, and I staggered backward, surprised by the enormous strength he had put behind his attack. His second punch was a tad slower, and I adjusted mid-step to avoid it. It missed, but before I could celebrate a mental victory, I felt pain explode in my stomach. The muscles in my abdomen contracted in agony, and when I glanced down, I saw his other fist buried in my gut.

Once I felt the chakra buildup in his hand, my instincts screamed at me to get away – and fast. This wasn't good. I shifted my weight to the right, and tried to get myself out of the way from his next attack.

The energy surged through his clenched fist, and then was released all at once. Something cracked in my body. It was the last thing I heard, before the force hurled me away from him. My flight wasn't long. There was a tree in my path. As strong as Sasuke had become though, I wouldn't let myself be defeated that easily - never again.

I turned my body around mid-fly, and reached with my hand toward the grass. My palm tipped the ground for a short moment, and I pushed myself away with quite some force. When I landed on a branch nearby, sweat was running down my face. I had solid ground under my feet now, but still I frowned.

Sasuke was walking slowly toward me; his gait was self-assured and confident, just like it had always been. He had no doubt that he'd beat me. I pulled a kunai out of my pouch and crouched low on the branch, readying myself to jump away at a moment's notice.

For the first time since I had received my forehead protector so many years ago, I felt uncomfortable wearing it. The weight of what I had to do for my village – what I had sworn to do after I became the Hokage – pressed against me, and I hated it. Why did it have to be like this?

"Come on, let's stop this. I don't want to kill you," I said.

Sasuke snorted, and I frowned. He didn't take me seriously. He never had.

"What makes you think that you can kill me? You couldn't do it back then, and you can't do it now."

"Screw you! That was years ago."

"And you think it will be different now? Don't make me laugh."

I tensed up, when I heard his contemptuous laugh. That asshole had always underestimated me, and as always he knew exactly how to get under my skin.

The dispensation of air next to me alerted me that something was seriously wrong. I turned around, and my eyes widened minutely. Sasuke stood next to me. His sword sliced through the air, and I pumped chakra into my feet to get away from the branch as fast as possible. Bark cracked beneath my sandals, and I felt a gust of wind as the blade missed me by barely an inch.

Damn, but he was fast. And to be honest, even after all my years in service, I had no idea how to counter him. I landed on the low-hanging branch of a tree opposite of him. My features eased into a sad smile as I observed him. Sasuke pissed me off to no end, but he was still my brother in all but blood, even if he didn't acknowledge it.

My hands formed the seal that had helped me through my entire career. Maybe it would do so again. "_Ninpō: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)_!"

Sasuke didn't even twitch as dozens of my clones swarmed him. I envied his composure. Only somewhat though, as I knew what he had lived through to gain it. I wouldn't wish such a fate on my worst enemy, and it pained me to know that he of all people had endured it.

The almost rhythmic beat my clones produced as Sasuke destroyed them made me wince. He had become quite adept at killing me over and over again. I shook my head. This wasn't the time to space out. I sent in some more reinforcements to keep him busy for a while, and jumped on a branch a bit further away.

I had known that he would seek me out eventually, years before he actually did. And the moment my contacts had informed me that Sasuke was on the move again, I had started to prepare.

He was faster than I was, by far, and his movements were so refined that I had trouble to imagine just how much time he had spent to bring himself to such a level. But even though I couldn't match him in these aspects, I had other ways to make sure I wouldn't lose.

Sasuke, for all his brilliance, had never paid much attention to the more esoteric branches of the shinōbi arts. A mistake I would exploit for all it was worth. I took the large scroll I had carried with me from my back and rolled it out in front of me.

The scroll was empty, and after procuring a brush and a small jar of ink – mixed with my blood and chakra – I began scribbling lines on it in a furious pace. There wasn't much time.

"Interesting. You studied up on Fūinjutsu?"

The sudden voice next to my ear startled me, and I looked incredulous at the form of Sasuke. He was leaning against the trunk of the tree I sat on. Why hadn't I felt him? A pop echoed in the distance. My clones were still at work. But then… how?

"Wh-"

He kicked me out of the tree before I could react, and I watched my sealing scroll burst into flames. That wasn't how I had envisioned this encounter to go down.

Sasuke was in front of me once more. I flung two kunai at him, and he easily sidestepped them.

"Is this how you planned to kill me, Naruto? An unfinished seal, and a few kunai? Don't be ridiculous."

My blood was boiling. That ass had insulted me one time too many, best friend or not. I pumped chakra through my body, and the ground cracked beneath me as I sped toward him. He wouldn't escape this time.

"_Katōn: Gōryūka no Jutsu (Great Dragon Fire Technique)_!"

What on earth? Sasuke's lips twitched and I quickly turned to my left. A large fiery dragon head rushed at me from an entirely different direction. I jumped up just in time to avoid being roasted, but there was a searing heat at the soles of my feet. His technique had burned through my sandals.

"Brought friends with you?" I asked, after landing back on the ground.

"You're an idiot."

Before I could voice my anger over his cheap tricks, however, someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me around forcefully. So he had more than one ally with him. That would make this more difficult.

I cocked my fist back, intent on decking whoever helped him, when a lightning enhanced punch smashed through my guard and lifted me off the ground. Sasuke again?

Slowly it dawned on me. I twisted in the air, lashed out with my leg, and kicked him in the head. He went up in smoke. Blood trickles down my lips, and I quickly wiped it away.

"You're an ass," I said.

"And you're an idiot," the Sasuke opposite of me retorted.

What did he mean now? There was the heat again. Fuck. I had completely forgotten about that one. I dodged the attack once more, but this time it singed my cloak instead of my sandals. This had gone way too far. There was no way I'd let him beat me with my own technique.

I threw a kunai surrounded by wind chakra into the general direction of where the fire technique had come from, and formed the cross-shaped seal myself. A large surge of chakra later, hundreds of my clones surrounded Sasuke.

"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"Not my problem if you're stupid enough not to notice your own technique."

I refused to reply to that, and with a mental command, all my clones attack at once. Already, I felt that my chakra reserves had restored themselves completely. I sighed as I watched Sasuke destroy my clones systemically and with deadly precision. He didn't even break a sweat.

In all honesty, with our skill levels this fight could take quite a while before we'd finally be able to settle it. Well, at least this would give me more time to convince him that being a Nukenin sucked ass.

END

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**AN:** If you're wondering about the abrupt end, I simply wanted to keep it short. As I said, this is just an experiment. Why did I call the whole thing 'Resilience'? Because it always astounded me just how much Naruto was willing to endure to get back his best friend. In this AU, even after years apart, he still sees the old Sasuke, endures everything thrown at him without losing hope to bring him back. To me, that's resilience in its purest form.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed it.


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